8th Grade EnglishWith

Mrs. Kristina Morris

1st hour: 8th English

2nd hour: 8th English Honors

3rd hour: Plan

4th hour: 8th English Honors

5th hour: 8th English Honors

6th hour: 8th English Honors

Room 116

Tool Kit Folder with pockets & prongs Composition notebook Dry erase markers Small washcloth for white boards Earbuds

Donations: Hand sanitizer Clorox Wipes Tissues Dry Erase Markers

As a child, I went to 13 schools throughout Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois, and Indiana by the time I graduated high school in Norman. I have obtained 3 Associate degrees at Rose State College and a BA in English Education from the University of Central Oklahoma. I

am certified 6th-12th grade English, 6th-12th grade Special Education Mild/moderate, and National Board Certified in English Education Early Adolescent English Language Arts.

I have a learning disability, but I was never placed. I use my own personal strategies to teach my students how to be successful in Written Expression and Reading. I teach on level and advanced curriculum in my classroom. I share ideas/tests/activities with the other English classes almost on a daily basis. We promote the essentials for high school and college bound students.

I am very flexible, but I don’t put up with rude or indecent behavior. I try to teach them the skills they need to know to be successful in high school, college, and on the job. We have many class discussions and I am usually pretty honest and straight forward in my answers. I believe that now that they are in junior high, they should be treated as young adults and have a say in their education and rights, but they also need to understand rules and laws.

I have 3 kids here in the Moore Public Schools.

All of my kids are in Band/Guard.

We like to sing, dance, travel, and do art.

I’m always reading a new book

or watching a new movie!

Behavioral choices will be handled as quickly and appropriately as possible. The following are possible consequences for students behavioral choices:

Positive Responses: Candy, homemade treats, verbal praise, class applause, emails, notes, and phone calls to parents.

Negative Responses: Informal Conference: Teacher will discuss behavior and corrective measures with student.

My Action Plan/Parent Contact: Student will correct behavior AND teacher will discuss behavior with parent and case manager.

If needed: Detention: Student will serve after school detention if behavior continues AND/OR Referral: Teacher will refer student to principal if the parent/student/case manager/teacher cannot correct the behavior.

Grades will be determined on total points accumulated on class work, homework, quizzes, tests, projects, and class participation. (The number of points allotted for each assignment will vary according to difficulty and duration.) These percentages will be measured according to the district’s grading scale:

A = 90 and above

B = 80-89

C = 70-79

D = 60-69

F = 59 and below

Tardies will be handled according to Brink Junior High’s Tardy Policy.

Cell Phone• NO CELL PHONES IN CLASS!

In the interest of being fair and encouraging responsibility…

1 day late is 10% of final grade 2 days late is 25% off final grade 3 days late is 50% off final grade Over 4 weeks late will be a zero.

Mandatory Monthly Saturday School for students With a C average or below with missing work!

Check Canvas.

Check OneNote.

You have two days for every day you were absent to complete and turn in assignments you missed. Parent and teacher decision will decide if more days are warranted for good reason.

You are responsible for all make-up work due to absences.

I should not have to remind you.

ComputersEverything will be done via computer and Canvas.You must always have your computer with you!

I would like to recognize your child’s student achievement on my school website. The District values your child’s privacy; your child’s last name will not appear in connection with any images of your child or any of your child’s work on the Website.

CHECK ONE

(_____)I, the undersigned, hereby authorize Mrs. K. Morris to display my child’s work on the Internet. I understand that my child’s last name and personal information will not be included. I understand that this work is accessible to anyone who is connected to the Internet and the ownership of intellectual property cannot be guaranteed.

(_____)I, the undersigned, DO NOT authorize any piece of my student’s work to be displayed on the Internet.

Parent/Guardian Signature:

_________________________________________________

I will send home a copy of this for you to return

and I will document in Campus.

Each Friday, you turn in visual representations of 5 SAT vocab words. This will serve as an examination in your knowledge of the word. If that word could be illustrated, what would it look like? What colors might symbolize the word? What abstract shapes and patterns might work? Can I show this word in action? What images might represent this word? Try to show us what

this word would look like.

Suggested Materials: Expectations:

Internet pictures Understanding of concept

Windows Paint programs Concept is clear to the viewer

Construction paper Student has full understanding

of word

Creative & Unique

Visually appealing

Amount of effort

Followed requirements

Students will have to do 1 mandatory project per book/play we read.

Students will receive a list of approved projects and will only be allowed to do each type of project 1 time only during the school year.

Student project types will be documented in Campus and Canvas along with their grade.

Projects must be done neatly and correctly following the rules set for each project.

ALL PROJECTS ARE DIGITAL!

Extend the story: write a final chapter that explains what happens to the characters. You could take the story in a number of directions. How would you like it to end?

Timeline – You may create a timeline on poster board that shows significant events as they occurred in the novel.

Create a Newspaper –Develop a newspaper and report on some of the most important events.

Collage – Create a collage that represents the book. Think about what colors/words/images/lines represent the novel best. Put these together to create a collage.

Movie Poster – Pretend the book is going to be made into a movie. It’s your job to design a poster that advertises the movie. What actors and actresses would you have appear in the movie? What roles would they play? Why? What kind of colors/scenes/images/background would you use in the poster?

Journal #1–Write ten journal entries from the Protagonist’s (Main Character’s) point of view. You will want to include major events that occurred in the novel, and think about how they would have made that character feel.

Journal #2 – Pretend for a moment that the Antagonist’s (opposing force) kept a journal also. What would his side of the story be? What would he have to say?

Create a Child’s Book – This book will summarize the plot of the novel.

Create a Game – Develop an original game that helps you prepare for a test over the novel.

Create a Soundtrack – Your soundtrack must have six songs minimum. You will burn a CD with the songs you choose. You will also provide a list of the titles and singers. You will also explain why you chose each song.

This packet can be found on Canvas.

Every book/play we read we will fill out a Literary Elements Packet to aid our comprehension skills.

The Packet will have all possible elements.

We will Read:

Taming of the Shrew by No Fear Shakespeare (translates into current English)

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

We will Study:

Grammar Unit

Poetry Unit

5 paragraph Essay Unit

Test Taking Skills

Fables

Greek Mythology

Plays

All notes and videos from lectures, activities, assignments are posted in OneNote. All books and plays are posted in PDF form to read from home along with their audio and some movies!

If you are absent see what your assignment is and then go to OneNote to go through the lesson

I reserve the right to change our lesson plans as needed to compensate for time, ability, availability, and impromptu activities as they occur.

Emailing me is faster then trying to return a phone call. I have only 1 hour and 150 students.

P.S. I LOVE Dark Chocolate,

Harry Potter (Go Slytherin),

….and Johnny! ;P